The Pioneer of Contemporary Realistic Painting

Horse in the Sky by Xu Beihong

The New Culture Movement started from the May Fourth Movement which at the beginning of the 20th century started a revolution against imperialism and feudalism in Chinese cultural fields. Many Chinese painters went abroad to learn Western painting skills. One of them was Xu Beihong, who went to Europe to study Western classical realist painting, and then combined it with traditional Chinese painting methods. He was the pioneer of contemporary Chinese realist fine arts.

Eight Galloping Horses by Xu Beihong

Xu Beihong (1895-1953) was a native of Yixing, Jiangsu Province. His father, from whom he learned painting in his childhood, was also a painter. At the age of 20, Xu went to Shanghai to sell paintings. In 1918, at the invitation of Cai Yuanpei, he went to Peking University to work as an instructor at the Painting Research Society. The next year, he went to Paris to study, then transferred to Berlin and Belgium to learn oil painting and sketch drawing.

Horses under old Cypresses by Xu Beihong

Xu liked the Western classical paintings of the Renaissance Period very much and diligently copied them day and night. After he came back to Beiping (present-day Beijing) in 1927, he served as president of the Beiping Art Institute, dean of the Art Department of Nanjing Central University and later as principal of the Beiping Vocational Art School. After the liberation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Xu worked as president of the Chinese Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of the Chinese Artists' Association.

Learning from Western paintings, Xu also incorporated his knowledge of human anatomy and modeling in his figure paintings. During his eight years in Europe, he studied the classic, romantic and impressionist painting styles and tried to understand their different ideas. After he came back to China, he blended them with traditional Chinese painting. He considered Chinese and Western painting different branches of art with respective advantages and he thought they should be combined, absorbing the essence and rejecting the dross.

Crowing Cock in Storm by Xu Beihong

Though Xu adopted many Western painting techniques, he was also a master of traditional Chinese painting. He spoke highly of Yan Liben, Wu Daozi, Li Sixun of the Tang Dynasty, Huang Quan and Fan Kuan of the Five Dynasties and Xu Wei, Chen Laolian, Shi Tao and Bada Shanren of the Ming and Qing dynasties. He also had great admiration for Ren Bonian. According to him, artists should seek after truth and take a proper attitude to life. He summarized seven painting rules in the foreword of his book, The Painting Center.

Foolish Old Man Removing Mountains by Xu Beihong

The seven rules are proper composition, accurate proportion, clear distinction of white and black, natural movements and gestures, harmony between bright and light colors, clear characterization and unambiguous expression of emotions. From these rules, we can see Xu's careful research into traditional Chinese and Western paintings and his quest to combine the painting methods of the two. The rules provide a good summary of his art practice and also represent a big achievement in modern realist fine arts research.

Xu Beihong created thousands of excellent traditional Chinese paintings, oil paintings and sketches during his life. In his traditional Chinese painting Foolish Old Man Removing Mountains, oil paintings Five Hundred Soldiers in The Field and Wait After Me, he depicted traditional Chinese folk tales or historical stories to hint obliquely at contemporary realist themes.

Against the Wind by Xu Beihong

His works have impeccable composition, extensive scenes and rich characterization to reflect the themes. His paintings of animals, flowers and birds, such as Crowing Cock in Storm and Galloping Horses, all reflect positive ideas. His works reveal his concern about society and the people and his devotion to art. Xu Beihong had researched the body shape and characteristics of horses and drew sketches of thousands of horses. The horses under his painting brush combine Western and traditional Chinese painting skills and have a uniqueattraction.

During his life, Xu Beihong also devoted heart and soul to the education of new artists and made important contributions to fine arts education after the founding of New China.